Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 19 of 74

GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 28, ISSUE 1 20
"Did I want to stay and live with the pressure of the
high expectations or did I want to go somewhere and
start fresh and make a name for myself?" Brian said. "I
decided to stay home and had a great career. I enjoyed
every minute of it."
Brian had one of the most successful careers in Lou-
isville history, throwing for nearly 11,000 yards and 71
touchdowns, completing nearly 800 passes, winning 24
games and beating three ranked teams.
Decision validated.
"Everybody expected him to be great, and he lived up
to it," Greg said. "Every stage he was on, he was better
than the stage he was on. He was always real calm and
composed. The lights were never too bright for him. He
couldn't have done, really, any more in his athletic career
in high school and in college. For somebody to have that
much attention, he handled it great."
Brian was selected in the second round of the NFL
Draft. He spent eight seasons in professional football,
including non-NFL stops, before retiring two years ago
and joining Jeff's staff last season at Western Kentucky.
Which promptly had a first-time starting QB throw for
more than 4,000 yards.
"I've kind of watched it all develop," said Bozich, who
worked alongside Oscar starting in the late 1970s. "When
I first got to town and heard about Oscar's kids and then to
watch them actually … everybody says their kid is good.
Yeah, I've heard that before. They might be good in grade
school. Then they're at Trinity and they're winning state
championships and they're going to U of L. I remember
hearing, 'Brian is going to be better than either of them'
(and thinking), 'Oh sure.' Then Brian is better than ei-
ther of them.
"All the hype — and they had plenty of hype — has
been justified."
O
scar Brohm holds the word out, for effect.
"Nooooo question," he says when asked who
he'll be rooting for on Sept. 2 when his alma
mater is pitted against the current employer of his three
sons. "There's no divided loyalty at all. Family first. I'll
even be trying to convert some of my U of L friends to
pull for Purdue this game. Actually, I have, but I can't give
their names or they'd get in trouble.
"We're real excited."
He says this with a Purdue hat firmly on his head, dis-
cussing his family and its Louisville connections over
lunch this summer at a restaurant just across the Ken-
tucky border, peeking onto the Ohio River. He's a chat-
ty, personable storyteller and has just enough southern
drawl to make every word interesting.
Around these parts, he's simply known as "Oscar" now,
no last name. When he's out, either by himself or with
Donna, often he's stopped. Many ask about the boys.
It's widely known they're all up north now, having trad-
ed in their red for black and gold. And it's widely known
which team they'll open with in Jeff's first game as head
coach. That's probably more because it's their beloved
Cardinals, of course. But it just as easily could be because
the careers of Jeff, Greg and Brian have been watched
closely.
"Everybody around here, they know them. It's nice that
it's that way," Oscar said. "They used to be my sons and
now I'm their dad, which is great. I love it.
"I feel lucky. Because what guy who was a former play-
er wouldn't enjoy being involved in it for his whole life
with your sons and your daughter? It's great. It keeps me
young. I think it keeps me young."
A pause, a smile.
Clearly, Oscar is enjoying every moment of this new
experience, this fresh start, this introduction to a new
community, he hopes, will embrace his family like the old
one.
And he knows he's not the only one relishing the pos-
sibilities.
When Greg was in the Louisville area this summer, he
Stacy Clardie
Trinity has only three retired jerseys, including Brian's No. 12 and
Jeff's 11.